Shakespeare Classics

The epic tale of Macbeth. Macbeth and Banquo are Scottish generals returning home from a victorious war campaign. Their journey is interrupted when three strange witches come upon them and predict their futures. They claim that Macbeth will one day become King of Scotland! Macbeth is stirred by the prophesy.

Have you ever been to a King Lear performance with the impression of not having understood everything? It's normal. Shakespeare's plays are the most beautiful of the theatrical repertoire, but you cannot go to a Shakespeare play if you do not have a minimum prepared this show: understand the issues, characters, context, cultural or historical references is indispensable. The same is true if you intend to read a play by William Shakespeare: our summaries will help you better understand what you have read.

Sir Ian McKellen, fresh from his performance as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, is Prospero, and heads a strong cast in Shakespeare’s last great play. The wronged duke raises a tempest to shipwreck his old opponents on his island so that he can ensure justice is done. With Emilia Fox as Miranda, Scott Handy in the pivotal role of the sprite Ariel, and Ben Owukwe as Caliban.

This book contains the following works: 1. Edgar Allan Poe: The Pit and the Pendulum 2. William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream 3. Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden 4. Fyodor Dostoevsky: The Dream of a Ridiculous Man 5. Robert Louis Stevenson: Treasure Island 6. H. P. Lovecraft: At the Mountains of Madness 7. Jack London: The Call of the Wild 8. Mary W. Shelley: Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus 9. Osamu Dazai: No Longer Human (Confessions of a Faulty Man) 10. Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter

Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, agrees to lend Antonio, a Venetian merchant, three thousand ducats so that his friend Bassanio can afford to court his love, Portia. However, Shylock has one condition: Should the loan go unpaid, he will be entitled to a pound of Antonio's own flesh. Meanwhile in Belmont, according to the terms of her father's will, Portia's many suitors must choose correctly from three caskets. Bassanio arrives at Portia's estate and they declare their love for one another before he picks the correct casket.

After an insult from the French Dauphin, King Henry V of England invades France to claim the throne he believes should be his. Henry stops an assassination plot, gives powerful speeches and wins battles against the odds. In the end, he woos and marries the princess of France, linking the two nations....

Hailed as the father of the naturalist novel, French author and playwright Honoré de Balzac left a legacy of treasured literary works that include Père Goriot and Cousin Bette. The daughter of a wealthy but miserly man, Eugénie Grandet falls in love with her penniless cousin, Charles. The two plan to marry, but at the behest of her father, Charles must first go overseas to make his fortune. Returning years later, Charles calls off the engagement, leaving Eugénie heartbroken and vengeful.

Edith Nesbit re-tells the stories of William Shakespeare's plays, making them accessible to children, while evoking the drama and excitement of the originals.

Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb is a retelling of 20 of Shakespeare’s most beloved stories. Within the pages of this book, the 19th-century authors bring to life the Shakespearean plots and characters of another age in an easy-to-understand prose of a newer generation.

Friendship, betrayal, wisdom, humour, epic romance, jealousy, adventure, bravery and murder. There's everything in those iconic Shakespeare stories. His work transcends generations and appeals endlessly to other writers. His dramatic structures are both simple and complicated, intertwined with numerous relationships, which reappear in our lives again and again. This iconic collection of Shakespeare tales includes 20 of his most prominent works adapted by Edith Nesbit and transformed into modern English.

This collection of timeless British and American poems is an experience to be treasured. The readings, by brilliant classic actors Alexander Scourby, Nancy Wickwire, and Bramwell Fletcher, are presented in the order they appear in The Norton Anthology of Poetry, Third Edition, and are selected for their ability to delight. The poetry is also among the most anthologized verse in the English language.

The epic tale of Julius Caesar’s rule over Rome. Brutus and Cassius, friends and supporters of Julius Caesar, brood and worry over his increasing ambitions. Caesar’s pursuit of power leads the two men to worry that Caesar will crown himself Emperor, which would ruin Rome’s Republic of the people. Behind closed doors, Cassius and Brutus begin to concoct a scheme that will irrevocably alter the fate of the Roman empire.

A collection of seven of Shakespeare's best-loved plays adapted for children in plain English with additional commentary. Performed in plain English by a full cast.

Macbeth, a general of the army of Duncan, King of Scotland, rises through the ranks after victory over the rebel MacDonald. Inspired by three witches' prediction that he would become king, he and his wife murder Duncan, and he becomes King of Scotland himself. The heir, Malcolm, flees to England, where he is joined by Macduff, the loyal Thane of Fife.

Power, tragedy and hubris are played out in this quartet, all of which are set in the febrile political atmosphere of ancient Rome. Performed by an incredible array of the 20th century’s greatest actors, Marlowe alumni including Ian McKellen, Prunella Scales, Patrick Wymark and William Devlin can be heard in these recordings.

Ignoring the opportunity to own a comprehensive guide to one of the world's most creative literary minds would be an Elizabethan tragedy of modern proportions. Elevating your intellect to become a Shakespeare connoisseur has never been easier or this much fun with The Great American Bathroom Book Shakespeare edition!

Here is the full-cast production of Shakespeare's classic love story, fully dramatized from the complete text, and starring Michael Sheen as Romeo and Kate Beckinsale as Juliet.

The focus of the book is on Shakespeare's London, how it influenced his drama, and how he represents it on stage. Taking listeners on an imaginative journey through the city, the book moves both chronologically, from beginning to end of Shakespeare's dramatic career, and geographically, traversing London from west to east.

Have you ever seen a Shakespeare play and come away without fully understanding it? Or wished you had known the basis of the plot before seeing a play by Shakespeare? Are you studying Shakespeare? Would you like to increase your knowledge of the plays without reading the originals? Then these are the recordings for you!

This widely studied play is one of the "best sellers" of the Shakespeare canon. This production is the sixth Shakespeare play in the series undertaken by Naxos AudioBooks in conjunction with Cambridge University Press.